From going down watersides with journalists to falling from a paddle boat into the chilly waters of Windemere, Ed Davey has official taken the political stunt crown for this general election campaign.
The Liberal Democrat leader hasn’t shied away from a photo opportunity – following in the footsteps of many politicians famed for their hilarious PR moves.
We have seen the likes of British Johnson get stuck on a zip wire in Victoria Park as the ex-London mayor celebrated the 2012 Olympics, while more recently Labour MP for Brent East Dawn Butler dropped a rap video urging people to vote.
The recent flurry of bizarre stunts may seem unconventional, but they have been a long-standing tradition in UK politics starting with the Iron Lady herself – Margaret Thatcher.
The Iron Lady herself – Margaret Thatcher – inadvertently sparked the tradition of stunts during election campaigns when a baby calf was placed in her arms in 1979
Margaret Thatcher and the baby calf
The photo that sparked political stunts in Britain – ex-Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher cradling a baby cow.
The historic moment was captured whilst The Iron Lady was on her 1979 election campaign, hopeful she would land her feet firmly in Number 10.
But whilst visiting windy East Anglia farm, a Charolais calf – also called Maggie – was lumbered into her arms.
The young cow’s legs dangled as the former leader carried the farm animal for over 20 minutes, the Weekly Times Now reports.
Although the novelty may have been criticised by some, it sparked a new wave of politicians keen to get their faces in front of voters.
John Major’s soapbox
Her successor may have been mild-mannered but John Major took a note of two from Thatcher, unafraid to stand on a soapbox and face off with an angry left-wing crowd in Luton during his 1992 campaign
After Thatcher waved farewell to Downing Street, a hungry Labour Party was on the horizon keen to bag leadership of the UK.
Even though her successor John Major may have been mild-mannered, the right-wing party leader was not shy of facing off with an angry left-wing mob in Luton.
As he electioneered on his 1992 campaign, Major climbed his way on top of a soap box in front of the droves of voters.
‘No mob ever taking to the streets is going to stop us coming out and talking to the ordinary decent people of this country,’ the former Conservative leader said.
Explaining why he used the document box to reach people in Luton he added: ‘People say that you cannot do it these days.
‘It is fashionable to say, for security and other reasons, that you cannot get up on a soapbox. I think you have to and I am going to do it.’
Neil Kinnock’s pop videos and blunders
Labour leader Neil Kinnock may have lost four times against the Conservatives – but that didn’t stop him from trying his best to appeal to the public – even appearing in pop videos (pictured: Kinnock and pop singer Tracey Ullman)
The former Labour leader was keen to impress the press when he headed down to Brighton beach with his wife – but everything went awry when he fell – backside first – into the water
During both the Thatcher and the beginning of the John Major’s Conservative reign, Neil Kinnock led the opposing Labour party.
He was at the helm of the left-wing party from 1983 until 1992, losing four consecutive elections to the Conservatives and their Iron Lady leader.
The South Wales born politician suffered a landslide loss against the right-wing party following in 1987 following the miners strikes in 1984 to 1985.
However his consecutive loses in Westminster did not stop Kinnock from trying to keep up with his rivals in appealing to voters in any way necessary.
In 1983, as he attempted to impress the press strolling with his wife Glenys Kinnock, he made the unfortunate decision of embarking on Brighton beach.
As the waves roles in, the humble politician fatefully fell backside first onto the pebbly beach.
But a stroll on Brighton beach wasn’t the only political stunt the Labour leader in his career, as he featured in the video for Tracey Ullman’s cover of My Girl in 1994.
David Cameron and The Huskies
Amidst campaigning during the 2006 local elections Cameron ventured all the way to Norway to dog sled with huskies and show the public he cared about the environment
When David Cameron debuted in his first election as Conservative leader in 2006, he was keen to show local voters he was passionate about the environment.
And what better way to show the British public you care about wildlife than heading to Norway to spend time with huskies.
While Tony Blair visited the elderly in northwest London, the former Conservative leader travelled an eye-watering three hours by dog sled to Svalbard’s Scott-Turner glacier.
Over the previous century the glacier had shrunk to nearly half it’s size, a devastating reality the party leader witnessed in person.
Even though the campaign stunt may have been on the slightly less serious side, it still proved to be fruitful for the politician’s personal appeal with the party gaining over 300 seats and Cameron becoming PM in 2010.
Ed Miliband’s Six Election Commandments
Ed Miliband’s stone etched with six vague promises from Labour was a blunder – not only costing around £7,000 but also resulting in a £20,000 for his party
His election campaign in 2015 was only further hit when photographers captured an unfortunate snap of him eating a bacon sandwich
After battling it out with his brother for the top spot in the Labour party, Ed Miliband was hoping to bring an end to the Conservative’s five-year reign.
But his political gimmick, which came in the form of a 2.6 metre tall stone tablet, fell flat with the public.
The politician installed the granite, later dubbed Ed Stone, in Hastings, East Sussex, with six fairly vague commandments written on the side.
Labour’s message seemed to signal to voters that if they placed their trust in them they would not waiver from their non-specific promises – etched in stone.
However it was later unveiled the stunt was a blunder with his Labour peers even publicly stating the party could break its promises.
Chatting with BBC 5 Live, Labour MP Lucy Powell said: ‘I don’t think anyone is suggesting that the fact that he’s carved them into stone means that he is absolutely not going to break them or anything like that.’
It was later revealed that the PR failure was also expensive too, with the party initially spending £7,614 on the stone.
However the stunt became even more expensive when they were also fined a staggering £20,000 for incorrectly declaring how much was spent on the gimmick.
Miliband’s 2015 general election campaign was only worsened when an unplanned snap of him eating a bacon sandwich was mocked.
Boris Johnson’s Zip Line Blunder
Boris Johnson has never shied away from a political stunt with perhaps his most famed being the zip wire incident
To celebrate and promote the 2012 London Olympics the then London Mayor descended over Victoria Park – and became stuck mid-air
As Prime Minister he continued to use his charm and stunts to win over the public, such as plowing down a ‘gridlock’ wall with a Brexit digger
And it proved fruitful, with the former Conservative leader walking away with an 80 seat majority in 2020
Boris Johnson held the crown for some of the most famed political campaign stunts among UK leaders past and present.
Among his most memorable was his promotional zip wire stunt in Victoria Park in 2012 when he was London Mayor.
In a bid to promote the Olympics coming to the bustling British capital, the ex-Prime Minister quite literally took to the skies.
British flags in hand, the charismatic politician began to descend on the park before becoming stuck in the zip wire – permanently lodging himself in the minds of the public.
And when an election campaign rolled in December 2019, he decided to get a digger emblazoned Union jacks and ‘Get Brexit Done’ through a brick wall which read ‘Gridlock’.
As he emerged from the vehicle with a grin and his thumbs up, his intentions were clearly communicated to the public.
The campaign was seemingly successful as it managed to bag him an 80-seat majority in 2020.
Willie Rennie
Holyrood politicians began taking a leaf out of their peers books’, with Will Rennie famously heading down to a pig farm during his 2016 campaign
Unfortunately for the leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, the pigs began mounting each other in the background mid-interview
When the Holyrood elections came around in 2016, Scottish politicians also took a leaf out of the Westminster playbook.
For the leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Willie Rennie, he began his manifesto at the bottom of a giant blow-up volcano before famously going to clean out a pig sty.
Even though his party’s intentions may have not been entirely crystal clear during the interview – the clip of the two pigs in the background were.
Not only was he bizarrely snapped sitting on a large yellow sun lounger at South Queensferry, he also furthered his campaign by posing up a storm with a flurry of animals including crabs, sheep, penguins and even a young badger.
Nicola Sturgeon
Nicola Sturgeon also posed up a storm for the photo opportunities, inspecting the cavaties of a plush dinosaur toy in 2016
The Liberal Democrat wasn’t the only Scottish politician to take to the gimmicks as even ex-Holyrood head Nicola Sturgeon gave PR stunts a good go.
The former SNP leader was snapped extracting teeth from a fuzzy green toy dinasour in a dentist’s chair.
The photo opportunity at the clinic in Thornliebank, involved the ex-politician taking to the dentist tools to take a good look around the dinosaur’s child sized mouth.
Ed Davey
Ed Davey has taken the crown as this year’s general election stunt king, heading to Thorpe Park, his Beano style cycling and watersliding with journalists
However the Llb Dem leader has faced criticism for his string of gimmicks, with many suggesting he was trying to distract from his role in the Horizon scandal
But Sir Ed insisted he is taking voters’ concerns seriously during a campaign in which he has visited Thorpe Park and sped down the Ultimate Slip n Slide in Somerset
Taking the lead in the gimmicks in this year’s general election cycle was none other than Lib-Dem leader Sir Ed Davey.
Sir Ed has made headlines during this election cycle for a long list of extreme sports and other physical adventures he has been pictured doing, from falling into Windermere to trampolining and waterslides.
In his latest string of stunts, he sat barefoot at Broadsands Beach in Devon on Monday.
Although several have been critical of his gimmicks, with some stating it was a ‘deliberate ploy to distract from his role’ in the Horizon scandal.
More than 700 subpostmasters were prosecuted by the Post Office and handed criminal convictions between 1999 and 2015 as Fujitsu’s faulty Horizon IT system made it appear as though money was missing at their branches.
Lee Castleton – who lost his livelihood in the scandal – filmed a video for Sir Ed which was played on the BBC’s Sunday Morning With Laura Kuenssberg yesterday, saying trust is ‘never going to be built’ by ‘paddle-boarding in Cumbria’.
But Sir Ed insisted he is taking voters’ concerns seriously during a campaign in which he has visited Thorpe Park and sped down the Ultimate Slip n Slide in Somerset.
Dawn Butler General Election Rap Song
Davey wasn’t the only one leaning into the gimmicks, to get voters to the polls as Dawn Butler decided to rap her own rendition of So Solid Crew’s 21 Seconds song, renaming is ’21 Days’
In the song urging voters to head down to the polls, she took a swipe at Rishi Sunak for his early departure from D-Day commemorations
Rishi Sunak faced a fresh row over D-Day after it was revealed how he blamed the late-running commemoration events for his delayed arrival to an ITV interview
But Davey wasn’t the only one leaning into the gimmicks, to get voters to the polls.
Brent East candidate, Dawn Butler, decided to rap her own rendition of So Solid Crew’s 21 Seconds song, renaming is ’21 Days’.
The MP rapped for a continuous one minute and 15 seconds, urging the public to vote whilst also taking a swipe at Rishi Sunak and his early departure from D-Dday commemorations.
The Prime Minister has since faced fresh rows over D-Day after it was revealed how he blamed the late-running commemoration events for his delayed arrival to a TV interview.
Sunak suffered days of outrage after he skipped a major international ceremony with other world leaders in Normandy last week.
The row deepened when it later emerged Mr Sunak had conducted an ITV interview on his return from northern France last Thursday.
In a clip of that interview now released by the broadcaster, the PM has been shown apologising for his late arrival – suggesting he wanted to leave Normandy earlier.
‘Very nice to see you, sorry to have kept you,’ Mr Sunak said to journalist Paul Brand, adding of the D-Day 80th anniversary commemorations: ‘It all just ran over.
‘It was incredible but it just ran over… so apologies for keeping you.’
Mr Sunak’s political opponents seized on the ‘insulting’ exchange to claim it showed how the PM viewed D-Day as an ‘inconvenience’.
But those who were in Normandy with Mr Sunak pushed back and told Politico the D-Day events were delayed by the late arrival of Emmanuel Macron.
Mr Sunak’s early departure from Normandy left Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron to join US President Joe Biden, France’s Emmanuel Macron, and Germany’s Olaf Scholz on Omaha Beach
